Another SX knee injury; this time it's David Vuillemin

VitalMX reports that team Suzuki rider David Vuillemin has traveled to France to see his doctor, following his DNF at the San Francisco supercross. Sounds like DV12 dislocated his knee during the main. Ouch.

What is up with these recent knee injuries?

Was David wearing a knee brace? I don't know.

Would a knee brace help in a situation like that? I don't know.

Hmmm, rain didn't stop Chad Reed from winning

Gotta give props to Chad Reed for doing it in the deeep dirt in the City by the Bay, no weird pun intended. I think this win should erase any lingering doubts about Reed's ability to ride in the mud.

Biggest shock of the race, to me, was watching Tim Ferry jet out to a humongous holeshot. But I was having a really happy weekend, so I just figured the stars lined up just right for Ferry, too. I didn't see his slow fall from grace, though. He could only manage 10th in the main.

Chad Reed: "I think they’re going to try and do something..."

Chad Reed implies that some entity will attempt to make the competition closer in supercross in this interview by Steve Cox for Racer X online.

Wow.

Ladies and Gentlemen, how about a warm round of applause for...

... your current Supercross Champion, James Stewart!

I just watched the press conference on Racer X films, and I must give James all the credit in the world for his decision and how he handled himself.

Of course, his next test will be how he handles himself during his time off. The injury is to his left knee, which could affect his clutch control should he try to get some car driving in. Well, I hope that he is able to get his knee completely repaired in time for a solid assault on the outdoor title.

And I also hope James takes some of his "down time" to get online and start interacting with his fan base, even if it's to simply sell merchandise.

Get well soon, James.

Didn't see this one coming...

So yesterday I was walking out the door when I got a call from one of my moto friends, Paul. He told me Stewart was out for Anaheim 2, something about his leg, but at the time no one was sure. Not good.

We chatted about how James would have to just kill it the rest of the season, to overcome what would surely be a 25-point deficit to Reed. I ended the call and went about my business, which did NOT include making the 1-hour drive to Angel Stadium to actually see the supercross. Personally, the news only affected my fantasy supercross team selections...!

But then the news that James wasn't just sitting out a race, he's stepping off the scene for the rest of the season. It's not even February yet!

Racer X Films captured the press conference. As I write this, I haven't viewed the footage... I'm enjoying the Giants-Packers game right now... but I did read Jason Weigandt's take. My insta-opinion is man, that sucks for supercross.

In my eyewitness opinion, Chad Reed is riding the best he ever has. Watching him come from behind to win his heat race impressed me, and while I confess I didn't watch him as much during the main, it was clear that except for that one fall, Speedy rode... speedily. Had to do it, sorry. Anyway, I thought Chad was gonna give James some serious competition this season.

We can forget about that now. Instead, what we have here are conditions very similar to the last time (ONLY time) Chad Reed won the U.S. Supercross title, when the great Ricky Carmichael sat out the 2004 season. Seems the only difference, besides bikes and brands, is that RC made the call BEFORE the season began.

Guess I'll look at that video before I comment further.

Was it cold in Phoenix?

This is what I want to say about that: yeah, Monster found some cutie-pie twins in the town of the burning bird. But what's up with the packaging? Is it me, or are they not sexy enough?

And what has the world come to when I turn the discussion to the fashions of the 30-second board girls?

What I saw at A1

It was a mighty fine night of racing, that’s for sure. LiveNation and Dirt Wurx are to be commended for keeping their sanity and doing a great job at presenting a program in which the racers could do their very best. It may have been hell on the track, but it looked great from where I sat in the stands.

I saw Ryan Dungey establish himself as the man to beat for the West Coast regional division, and it wasn’t during his main event win that he sent this message. Dungey fired the first shot with his resounding heat race win, dominating in almost Villopoto-esque fashion.

I saw the “new” Jason Lawrence confidently stake his claim to fastest practice time, and I was pretty convinced that he was going to eventually pass Dungey for the win in the 250 main. So I was pretty surprised to read a race report in which Lawrence admitted he was “nervous” with Dungey stalking him, so he let him by…! J-Law may be working hard with Ryan Hughes on his fitness, but it seems he might need some help with his mind-game strategies.

I saw Chad Reed crash in practice and go down again in his heat race, and it made me think he was mentally struggling. But when he came from behind to win that heat race, I was very impressed. Reed can really ride Supercross, not that that’s news to anyone. He’s great fun to watch.

I saw James Stewart drag race a red bike deep into turn one during the 450 main start; it turns out Ivan Tedesco went down as well. It’s my speculation that James was bumped and that’s why he went down, but I haven’t read or seen anything to support that. In any case, after watching Stewart calmly dominate practice and his heat, all I felt after seeing him get up in last place was a building excitement. I knew it was going to be a thrill watching him slice through the pack catching up, and I was right. And he saved his most spectatular pass for last, when he tripled past both Langston and Ferry at the same time to take over second place.

In the pits before the races, I saw Jeremy Albrecht entertaining well-wishers wearing Kawasaki green over at his JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) transporter. They had some very nice looking Yamahas.

I saw James Stewart’s dad, “Big” James, giving out his own autographs, which seemed kind of weird. But I guess his name IS James Stewart…

I saw more Monster Energy logos than I cared to at the souvenir stand. I mean, I appreciate the company stepping up and sponsoring the sport, but man… the ubiquitous “claw slash” logo is starting to feel tired. I ended up forgoing an event t-shirt, instead settling on a pretty cool #7 hat (with NO Monster logos).

WHO I saw… I saw the Icon, David Bailey, as well as a very fresh-looking Ernesto Fonseca. I also saw MXi publisher Steve Cox, and Mototalk legend BobbyM. I missed seeing the scourge of Motodrive, Big Lenny, and his protégé BammBamm.

And I just missed Marty Moates altogether.

Anaheim the First: Chad Reed won but "Stewart rode smart"

Check out Jason Weigandt's great race report from last night's Supercross opener at Anaheim. I'll weigh in with my own observations shortly.

First LOL of the new season!

I just read Steve Matthes' 2008 Supercross Preview over at Racer X online... I am much amused!

FINALLY... the off season is over!

And regular posting will resume because IT'S TIME TO GO RACING!

I just got back from a holiday vacation with my parents, two weeks in "flyover" country. And I just picked up my A1 tix from Pasadena Yamaha (no link, I paid full price!). Planning ahead, I got us seats that are out of the rain...

More coming soon!